


the perfect afternoon

by greedlings



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, rated t bc taako says fuck, they build a snowman together ! and that's that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:14:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22282435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greedlings/pseuds/greedlings
Summary: Taako wished that his afternoon hadn't been wagered away by his stupid teammates, but for Angus... well, he didn't have plans anyway.
Relationships: Angus McDonald & Tres Horny Boys
Comments: 7
Kudos: 31
Collections: The Candlenights Zone (2019 Exchange)





	the perfect afternoon

**Author's Note:**

> happy candlenights! this was part of @/thecandlenightszone on tumblr for my giftee @/loomies.crafts on instagram! they asked for team bonding and By Golly i cannot deny a request like that! i hope you enjoy, and i hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season <3<3

“Who knew it’d snow on the fucking moon?” Taako sighed, staring out of the cafeteria window at the still-growing blanket of snow covering the Bureau of Balance headquarters. 

Merle cleared his throat, and Taako turned to look at him; he shook his head, subtly motioning towards Angus, who was sitting across from him. He then turned his eyes back to his stack of cards in his hand.

“I’m fine, sirs! It’s not like you haven’t sworn in front of me before!” Angus shot a beaming smile towards Taako before turning back towards the table; “Fantasy Uno!” he said as he laid a card on top of the stack in the middle.

Magnus groaned, “Damn you’re good at this.” Dejectedly, he took a card from his own stack--which must have had  _ at least  _ thirty cards in it--and placed it on top of Angus’. Merle followed suit, warily placing another card on the stack, whispering  _ please, please, please _ just loud enough for the party to hear.

When Angus giggled, Magnus and Merle’s shoulders drooped in defeat. There was a smug grin on Angus’ face--one that even Taako was surprised by--as he placed his last card.

“Now you have to build a snowman with me!” Angus turned to Taako, “You too, sir!”

Taako raised his eyebrow, “Now hang on a sec. I don’t remember agreeing to that.”

Magnus shrugged, awkwardly avoiding Taako’s eyes. Merle coughed gently, turning his head towards the floor.

Everything was still for a short moment; Taako considered being angry in that short second, but the look on Angus’ face…

A gentle, defeated smile rose on Taako’s face as he rolled his eyes, “ _ Fine. _ ”

The light that shone behind Angus’ eyes was worth having to brave the cold. Even his other friends seemed almost overly excited for the chance to play in the snow with Taako.

So Taako let Angus drag him out of the dome of the cafeteria, feigned annoyance on his face. He still couldn’t help but laugh along with his friends, even though that broke his facade.

It was cold outside. Taako curled up his nose, bringing his arms to his chest to conserve warmth. “It’s so fucking  _ cold _ ,” he complained, watching the swirling silver of his warm breath play gently in the breeze before disappearing.

“Well, sir, we  _ are  _ up very high. It’s much colder at higher altitudes than lower, and-”

“Yeah, I get it,” Taako said; his words were much less sharp than usual when talking to Angus, and the boy genius definitely picked up on it. He smiled up at Taako, a bright, genuine smile that could’ve melted the snow around them, and suddenly the cold didn’t bother Taako as much anymore. He placed a hand on Angus’ head. “C’mon kid, let’s go build a snowman.”

It wasn’t long before they had the crude base of their snowman; three crude mounds of snow that could hardly be called “balls” stacked on top of each other, high enough that even Magnus had to look up to see the snowman's head. A proud grin stretched across Magnus’ face as he finished securing the head to the torso. He stepped back, placing his hands on his hips with a triumphant sigh. “How’s it look, Ango?” he said, turning his head towards where Angus was standing.

Taako followed suit. Angus’ eyes sparkled with excitement in a way Taako had never seen before, and, this time, he didn’t fight the smile that pulled at his cheeks--his very red, very cold cheeks.

Merle seemed to be just as cold as Taako, and was the one to speak up about it, “Say, kid, why don’t we head inside for a bit? Get some hot chocolate, find some stuff to put on our new friend here--” Merle patted the snowman, and when he pulled his hand away there was a dwarf-hand imprint on the bottom snowball. He shook his now  _ very  _ cold hand as he continued, “--warm up a bit, you know, the like.”

“I suppose that would be a smart idea, sir! You look quite cold, as does Mr. Taako…” Angus turned his gaze towards Magnus, who was in a tee-shirt with a sweater tied around his waist, and only shook his head.

“I am a beach dwarf,” Merle shrugged, then shuttered. He turned towards the dome of the cafeteria, wrapping his arms around himself. Taako was right behind Merle as they walked towards the dome.

It didn’t seem like long before they were back outside, but Taako found he was quite excited to be continuing with their snowman. He stuck the two sticks that Angus had found for the arms into the torso and turned to Angus for approval; Angus smiled, sticking both thumbs up into the cold air. Merle stuck the buttons on, at least as far as he could reach. Magnus placed the touque on the top of the snowman's head before lifting Angus up on his shoulders to make the face; it was classic, as Angus had wanted, with a carrot nose and button eyes and a pipe that Merle had graciously donated from his collection.

When they finished decorating with what they had, they all stepped back, Angus still on Magnus’ shoulders. They admired it silently for a moment; the buttons only went halfway up the snowman’s body, the face was lopsided, the arms weren’t anywhere near the same level on the torso… and yet Taako could feel pride rising in his chest.

Even with his rising pride, however, he agreed with Angus when he said, “It’s still missing something.”

“What is it, kid?” Merle asked. Though he seemed to be feeling the same pride in their creation, Merle clearly wanted this to be over so he could go back inside.

“I think it’s…” Angus trailed off, clearly thinking very hard about what their new snow friend needed. “It needs… oh! It needs a scarf!” Slowly, Angus looked at everyone, searching for his final touch.

Taako already had his scarf off before Angus’ eyes reached him; though he could now feel the bitter cold on his neck, Taako didn’t find that he minded. At least, he didn’t mind as long as it kept the smile on Angus’ face.

Angus’ eyes were bright with excitement and he took the scarf from Taako’s hands. “Are you sure, sir?”

“I’m absolutely positive,” Taako replied. A sudden chill went down his spine, and he brought his shoulders up to his now exposed neck, “Can we hurry this up, though? It’s fucking cold out here, and I would like to be inside as soon as possible.”

“Me too,” Merle agreed.

Angus nodded, and Magnus stepped towards the snowman. Once the scarf was wrapped around the snowman, they stepped back again, Angus’ smile even bigger than before.

“Is it good?”

Angus turned towards Taako and, barely whispering, said, “It’s perfect.”

And, looking at the faces of his friends, Taako agreed wholeheartedly.

**Author's Note:**

> comments appreciated <3<3
> 
> check me out on twitter @/greedlings_ and on tumblr @/greecllings and @/and-then-theres-julia !


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